Should I See my Acupuncturist when I am Sick??

In my clinic we repeatedly find ourselves in a situation where a patient may call my office and say: "I am sick - I need to cancel." (usually we treat their menstrual issues..or their neck pain)
Often times I will answer - "Well, where do you go when you are sick? You go to see your doctor!..So, come on in, we shall try to help you"
Or a patient may say even "Oh, my back, elbow or knee is hurting today I can't come in".......where better to go but to your acupuncturist to take care of you hurting back or any other body part?!
Acupuncture Medicine is an absolutely complete system of medicine - it treats so many aspects of our health - most everything, in fact. There was a time in China that Acupuncture Medicine was all there ever was for millions of people in China for thousands of years.
Imagine that. One modality only comprised of application of specific needles into points along the meridians - and herbal medicine.
So we do know that there is a lot of proven empirical knowledge!
The repertoire of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Herbal medicine covers a very broad spectrum of conditions and much life style counseling - about work, play, about diet and exercise.
Some of the most recognized conditions treated by acupuncture are:
Muscular skeletal issues including joints and bones - pain - dislocations, swelling - inflammation
Emotional distress and states, through balancing all the major organ systems - such as
the Liver, the Heart, the Spleen (digestive system), the Lung system and the Kidney system.
It treats spiritual aspects defined in Chinese medicine by the word "Shen" = the Spirit of the Heart, as well as essential energy problems (too much nervous energy too little energy ) to even get up, go and live! and many aspects of hormonal issues - male and female.
lack of energy, food intolerance, allergies and digestive issues
sleep, anxiety, stress, panic
deficiency or excess of libido, also fertility.
hunger, issues around weight, water retention, food cravings
thirst, dryness, ringing in the ears, hot flushes, coldness, and inflammation
Peace of Mind

As a practitioner of Taditional Chinese Medicine I use Pulse Diagnosis
Tongue Diagnosis - and of course I take the health history, listen, smell and feel
for any imbalance. The history, the color of the skin, and the demeanor of the person have a lot of stories to tell about that person's health. Every aspect of this investigation completes the pattern of health.
From the pulse alone one can feel that a person might have just eaten a meal or that the person is really frustrated and angry about a situation in their life.

There is a broad array of possibilities of how we can address and treat conditions in so many different ways.
We can use needles - sometimes just a few - sometimes a few more - it depends on the nervous system of the patient - a person with higher anxiety level may naturally require less needles.

Sometimes a person may have a deep inner sense of cold - I may use moxibustion to heat up needles or just the skin around the needles - I may give a little homework by having the patient take home a stick of moxa (A herb rolled into a cigar like stick called Artemisia Vulgaris to be lit
and gently waved over an area around kidney points on the front of the lower body or the back.)
The person will feel deeply warmed and nourished.
Personally I like a lot of self-help approaches and we usually have a number of them up our sleeves!
Chinese medicine can be profoundly esoteric or extremely pragmatic. Both are approaches are appropriate and I love this quality about Chinese medicine.
The important thing is that WE CAN treat most issues that may come up.

On my web site on the Download page you can find my CDs called "Introduction to Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine" - Several hours of narrative to learn more about the historical, philosophical and practical application of Acupuncture. I love it when my patients know the essentials of Chinese Medicine - it makes for a much more fruitful dialogue.
Best wishes of good health

Verena Johanna Smith Reg. Ac. Dipl.Ac. (NCCAOM)

www.giftofhealth.com